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The Federal Drug Administration has studied smoked marijuana for over 30+ years and has concluded that it is a highly toxic, addictive, and cancer-causing. It has the potential for great harm and no medically accepted benefit. It cannot be prescribed by any licensed medical doctor. The psychoactive chemical responsible for the “high” that occurs after somebody smokes cannabis is known as THC (Tetrahydracannabinol). Todays cannabis has larger amounts of THC then have ever been present before.

Marijuana by the numbers:

Today the potency of THC is at least 3 times more toxic than in the 1970’s. (ONDCP – marijuana potency project.)

The National Institute on Drug Abuse says the potency of marijuana has been steadily increasing over the past few decades, but a level of 20 or 30 percent THC is even greater than the institute has reported in the past. As of 2012, it said marijuana confiscated by police agencies nationwide had an average THC concentration of about 15 percent.

According to the institute, higher concentrations of THC in marijuana could mean "a greater chance of an adverse or unpredictable reaction," especially in new users. And "for frequent users, it may mean a greater risk of addiction." Officials say more potent pot could also be one of the reasons behind a rise in emergency room visits involving marijuana use.

In 2006, there were 290,563 marijuana-related emergency room visits, more than for all drugs combined.

Emergency department visits involving marijuana-using visitors doubled from 2013 to 2014, the first year cannabis use was legalized in Colorado, a team of Denver-area doctors said.

At our institution, the rate of ED visits possibly related to cannabis use among out-of-state residents doubled from 85 per 10,000 visits in 2013 to 168 per 10,000 visits in 2014, which was the first year of retail marijuana sales.

— -Dr. Andrew Monte, emergency room toxicologist, University of Colorado Denver in a letter to the New England Journal of Medicine, along with colleagues.

What is the harm?

There are 483 chemicals in marijuana and when smoked or ingested there are 4 to 5 times more tars and cancer causing agents than in tobacco cigarettes. Furthermore In 2009, the California Office of Environmental Health and Assessment Science listed marijuana as a cause of cancer. It is also known to cause respiratory and reproductive problems, mental illness, birth defect and irreversible brain damage…especially for young people.

The harms of pot have been greatly downplayed by false facts and public opinion. A vast majority of Doctors and medical associations hold to what they have always known. That pot is dangerous. Follow the link to find out more about these groups(Who is with us?)

We’ve known for centuries that smoked marijuana is harmful to mind and body. Most concerning are the long-term mental health effects marijuana has on habitual users and the developing brain of a young person. Smoked marijuana also causes birth defects, respiratory and reproductive problems, including birth defects.

— Dr. Forest Tennant

“... in my twenty years of research on human cells, I have never found any other drug, including heroin, which comes close to the DNA damage caused by marijuana.” 

Regular and chronic marijuana smokers may have many of the same respiratory problems that tobacco smokers have (daily cough and phlegm, symptoms of chronic bronchitis), as the amount of tar inhaled and the level of carbon monoxide absorbed by marijuana smokers is 3 to 5 times greater than among tobacco smokers.

The short term effects of marijuana use include problems with memory and learning, distorted perception, difficultly in thinking and problem-solving, and loss of coordination. Heavy users may have increased difficulty sustaining attention, shifting attention to meet the demands of changes in the environment, and in registering, processing and using information.